5.16.2009

Summer food

We've been embracing summer today with a productive trip to the farmer's market. (Yes, it's summer here already — pay no attention to the calendar.) I just made gazpacho out of some farmer's market yummies, and we had fresh corn roasted in the oven and some deviled eggs. Kent is becoming a corn on the cob fiend, and I have a wonderfully foolproof method of preparing and cooking it that I wish my parents had known about when I was little. I don't remove any of the husks or silks, I just soak whole ears in a pot of water or a 13 x 9 pan of water for a while, putting a plate on top to hold the ears down so they don't float, then either grill it until tender (about 20 minutes) or cook it in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes. The water helps to steam it inside its own husks, and when it's done cooking, I peel back the husks and the silks just fall right off. I think about all the time I spent with ears of corn and a paper bag when I was a kid, meticulously picking off all the silks before the ears were boiled, and I'm thankful Kent will never have to undergo that trauma. I'll put him in front of a bowl of snap beans instead so his time can be put to better use.

Somehow, we're working peaches and strawberries in for dessert. Tomorrow, we'll eat our fairy tale eggplant (even smaller than Japanese, it's so cute!) and green beans. I love the farmers, and early summer is such an exciting time to visit the market because we're never sure what wonderful thing will be there each week. The corn this morning, for example, was a complete surprise. We got there an hour after the market opened, not knowing that this would be the first week of blueberries, and all their blueberries were already gone. Next Saturday, we shall arrive earlier and with a lot of cash, and we shall be triumphant.

After I finish Cry, the Beloved Country, I might finally check out Animal, Vegetable, Miracle from the library. I already feel indoctrinated into the "eat local" movement, so I think I'd enjoy it if I ever got around to reading it.

We're on the short waiting list for a CSA — Community Supported Agriculture, that is, buying a share of a farm for the season to ensure a steady stream of fresh produce — that's starting up in our area, because our stupid domain name always gets caught in spam filters and they didn't get my original email when I requested to be added to their list. They needed 20 families to commit, and if they had gotten the email I sent the day after they announced their CSA, we would be in. I contacted them from a different email address a couple of days ago since I hadn't heard anything about whether they had enough families or not, and they told me they had never gotten my first email. Stupid stupid stupid. As it is, we have to wait and see whether anyone else will drop out in the next couple of weeks, and I'm not hopeful about our chances of getting in at this point. It's an organic u-pick farm, so we could still visit them this summer if they have extra produce one week (we're on the email list for those sort of announcements), but we probably won't be getting our basket of stuff each week that I was so looking forward to. I'm sad, but we'll still support local agriculture at the market and by going to pick blueberries in a few weeks if we can go early one morning before the temp reaches 80. Ha.

Also, my car hit 111,111 miles this week, but my camera was nowhere in sight, nor was my camera phone. The bedside organizer, while fabulous, keeps obscuring my phone from me, so I still need to get in the habit of taking it out of there each morning. You'll have to settle for seeing the blurry photo of my odometer reaching 100,000 back in October, the day we were driving to NC for Lauren's dad's memorial service. Yes, I have driven 11,111 miles since Halloween. Lots of road trips.

I was away for a good bit of the day today at a fun church event for younger women, and as a result, Kent elected not to take a nap. He almost nodded off during dinner (after he had gobbled down all his corn), so he's having an early bath and will be in bed before the sun has even set. He might be up even earlier tomorrow as a result, but it's a chance we're willing to take. Strawberry pancakes, bacon, and coffee will see us through.

Comments:

I'm pretty sure the husking and de-silking was to keep us busy and quiet.My car's around 128K now. I wasn't paying attention at all for 111,111 or 123,456. My word is cocinedq. Does that mean I should cook some Dairy Queen for dessert?

We went to the market yesterday for Emerson's first chance to pick out herbs and veggies. It is all strawberries here for berries, I can't wait until something else comes up. We are enjoying fresh lettuce picked from our own backyard in salads and on sandwiches! Yay for local!

I love summer food! I also cook corn that way (in the oven) -- a few summers ago I was raving about how good grilled corn is and a PSU friend told me that you can simulate that taste in the oven. I will never cook corn any other way. Sorry to hear you didn't get your CSA - how annoying!